Arcanum 1: Interloper
by Designation
Summary: Despite the darkness, the Shadow saw their true colours. They didn't belong. 1st fic in the Arcanum series.


**_Arcanum:_**

**Interloper**

**by**

**Kel**

**Disclaimer:** I don't presume to own Dark Angel or any of it's characters. I gain no profit from this fiction, other than pride and joy and hopefully reviews.  
  
**Author's Note:** Set during AJBAC. This is the first fic in the _Arcanum_ series. As of so far, I have two stories posted that follow it, _Something Else That Didn't Fit _and _Catalyst._ Upcoming are _Almost a Memory _and _Permanence._

* * *

Something was gonna go down tonight. He could taste it.  
  
Unaffected by the pitch dark of his cell, he rose fluidly from his cot. Clad only in his military issue sweat pants, he made his way silently to the door, and looked out the small barred window.  
  
He could see nothing but the cold empty corridor. But he knew, that was not because there was nothing to see. All the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.  
  
He stood patiently, looking out. Waiting.  
  
Soft voices sounded through the corridor. "You okay, Max?"  
  
There was his proof. Such concern did not exist within these reinforced walls. The simple question in itself was foreign; did not belong. No one cared for anyone but themself here. None of the guards were named Max. And none of the transgenics had names.  
  
Save for the oh-niners, on the outside. It was ridiculous, how easily he could figure out their identity. It was foolish to be calling each other by name, even talking at all, as they snuck about in the silent dead of night. Sure, they'd been out in the cold for a long time, but hadn't they ever heard of transgenic hearing?  
  
Out in the cold. Right. No, he knew where life was icy, and it wasn't out there.  
  
Perhaps they had been justified in running. Escaping the cold, so to speak. But they still had run and he and the others had still been left here, for worse.  
  
He should have done something, he supposed. Made some noise, warned the guards and the other soldiers. A simple shout and he could bring the whole facility down on their asses. It would sure teach them a lesson, right?  
  
But for some reason that escaped him, the same primal instinct that had awoken him kept him silent.  
  
Call it a test, call them white lab rats, call any of it what you like. They didn't belong here, and he wanted to know why they were anyway. They had forced their way into hostile territory. Now he could keep an eye on their grace under pressure. It was a simple question of what now.  
  
Finally they entered his line of sight. Two. One male, one female. Both out of place, with their facial expressions, their anxiety and their fear. They stuck out like sore thumbs, for lack of a more soldierly description.

As absurd as the thought seemed, they were like glow-in-the-dark pink bunnies prancing about in a darkened mine shaft. What could he say? His unit had always told him his mind was a peculiar thing. As liquid and mysterious as a shadow. Though that description was his, not theirs of course. He chuckled.  
  
Both of their heads snapped up to his face behind the bars at the deep and bitter sound. "Interlopers," he accused with a sinister and yet amused grin. He kept his voice low, so as not to raise any attention save theirs.  
  
They eyed him with surprise, wonder, and suspicion. Perhaps a little fear. Good. They were right to be afraid. For since noticing their presence, he held their life in his already bloodstained hands. Fear was quite appropriate.  
  
As if by some unspoken acknowledgment, they seemed to sense that his lips were sealed. He took a step back from the door, securing himself in the darkness away from their perusing eyes. And he listened as they moved on.  
  
He lay back down, facing away from the door to appear asleep from any viewers. And he waited for the next event to unfold.

* * *

Shocked from the encounter, it took Max a few moments to find her voice. "Logan?"  
  
His reply came back through her ear communicator. "I got you, Max."  
  
"We good to go?" She couldn't help the glance she took over her shoulder. Logan wasn't the only one who could determine that at the moment. A lot also rested on those dark, shadowed eyes in the cell.  
  
"You're clear," Logan stated. But were they really? They had been made, marked as the interlopers they were. But would the Shadow alert the others?  
  
The silence loomed, its permanence in question.  
  
"We're clear, Max," Zack confirmed. She studied his eyes. He believed it. And for some reason, despite the lack of proof, and the shady situation, she found herself believing it as well.  
  
And as mystifying as the encounter had been, it was left at that.  
  
Despite the lack of light, the Shadow had seen their true colours. They didn't belong. But as far as anyone but the Shadow knew, they weren't even there. They'd make their mark. The Shadow would fade back to darkness.

**End**

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* * *

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**A few things:** I know that Lydecker said this bit, "Fortunately for us, most of the X series has been deployed in various parts of the world. There is a contingent of conventional soldiers and a small security detail of X5s. About a dozen." But he can be a little bit wrong, right? No harm in it. And he was already wrong, since there was a unit of X7's in the facility . . . And I know Renfro got into the video feed after. Whether or not she caught the exchange is a detail that I'm going to leave entirely up to your imagination.  
  
Hope you enjoyed! Tell me what you thought?


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